Thursday, September 30, 2010

Along the lanes

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Honey Mushrooms and others - A visit to the woods

I wandered into the woods behind our cottage. The squirrels protested. The moles just burrowed deep. I looked around. The "honey mushrooms" have returned for their brief appearance - along with a few other fungi that dotted the soil around the rotting wood.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Fort Snelling-born of hardship

From: "Minnesota Past and Present" - Antoinette Ford, 1955

"The troops arrived at Mendota on the 24th of August (1819) and were at once set to work cutting down trees, and making roads up the river bank. Soon they were building log houses near the present site of the town of Mendota. The quarters were all log cabins and building them was full of hardship and difficulty. Stone had to be quarried for chimneys, and logs had to be carried for a considerable distance by men"In September reinforcements arrived. One hundred and twenty men.The following winter scurvy raged among the troops. 40 men died. The cause of the trouble was found to be pork, which was sent from St. Louis. Contractors had drawn the brine from the pork barrels in order to lighten the load. Before delivering the pork they had filled the barrels with river water."

Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Dachshunds races - James J. Hill - Wayzata 2010

Dachshunds Races in Wayzata...we took our two non-Dachshunds to the sporting event. Our 18 year old Corgi-Sheltie mix (Rocky) was hailed as the senior statesman. Our Sheltie (Toonie) was simply, emotionally challenged by the crowd. I took them to a stand where they were giving out free treats as promotions. I gave one to Rocky who tossed it onto the ground in disgust. I gave another one to the chow-hound Toonie, who did the same. Neither will be employed as sales reps by this company.The sprint semi finals.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Excelsior Bay!

A classic boat powers across Excelsior Bay. Tomorrow there is a Classic and Wooden boat show at Maynards. I have never been to this show, so I am looking forward to seeing the classics, although there is a lot going on this weekend around the lake. Check it out.

So, in honor of the world of wooden boats I looked up some of the largest wooden boats in history .... it is a very crowded and categorically confusing armada. Here are a few I took from Wikipedia. I was surprised at the size of the Roman Ships.

167.3 ft Peter von DanzigBefore 1462- late 1470s wrecked A Hanseatic League caravel, built in the French Atlantic port town Rochelle, and the first large vessel in the Baltic Sea with carvel planking.[1]

191.9 f. Götheborg2003-operational This Swedish ship is 40.9 m (134.2 ft) long without the bowsprit, and a replica of the original that sank off Göteborg in 1745.

(201.1 ft) SantísimaTrinidad 1769-1805 sunk after battle One of the few four-deckers ever built. 136 guns.

(203.4 ft) Mahmudiye 1829-1874 Disassembled to sell components Mahmudiye (1829)Ordered by the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II and built by the Ottoman Imperial Naval Arsenal on the Golden Horn in Istanbul. The 62x17x7m ship-of-the-line was armed with 128 cannons on 3 decks with complement of 1280. She participated in many important naval battles, including the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855) during the Crimean War (1854-1856). She was decommissioned in 1875.

(204.0 ft) USS Constitution1797- museum ship The second oldest commissioned warship in any of Earth’s navies, and the oldest wooden ship still afloat in the 21st century.065.0 !65 m

(213.2 ft) SV Tenacious 2000- operational A recently made British ship designed for the disabled.

(213.8 ft) Orient1791-1798 blew up Of the French 118 gun Océan class ship of the line 16 ships were built. Orient was the flagship of the French Nile fleet. She was destroyed when fire reached her magazine during the Battle of the Nile.

(218 ft) Grace Dieu1420-1439 sunken wreck An English carrack used as King Henry V’s flagship. It burned after being hit by lightning.

(207 ft.) Caligula Nemi ships scuttled 1st cent. ADDestroyed 1944 These two Roman ships were found in Lake Nemi, a volcanic lake about 30 km south of Rome when the lake was drained between 1929 and 1932.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Boat names 2010

Photos that are shot from a moving boat can be dicey, but, like the desperado from Wild Bunch I said; " I don't need no stinking motion stabilizer". I turned it off and thus the blur. I clicked away at the odd, naval gazing boat names. Some like "Yachts of Luck" and "Margarittasville" state the obvious. Many were musical like Moon Shadow.Rumpshaker - promises a fine ride.